January 10, 2008

Great News!!!

At the January 9, 2008 Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders meeting, the Board voted to approve a grant of $400,000 for the completion of the Musconetcong Watershed Association’s River Resource Center.

Over the past 6 years, the MWA has worked hard to fund the planning and permitting phase of the project, cobbling together funding from a variety of sources including Warren County, Leavens Foundation, Conservation Resources and Hyde and Watson Foundation as well as capital campaigns and other MWA fundraisers.

The Freeholder’s vote to fund the MWA’s River Resource Center, as well as the purchase of a 5-acre parcel of land and the Cliffdale Inn by the Heritage Conservancy, creates the basis of an innovative collaboration between Warren County, Heritage Conservancy and MWA. Working together MWA and Heritage Conservancy will expand outdoor educational and recreational programs for Warren County residents and allow the County to provide services with minimal investment. Like most local governments, Warren County is challenged with meeting the expectations of its citizens by providing better and more extensive services with diminished resources.

While Warren County is rich in natural resources and recreational opportunities, it does not have a County Park System. Heritage and MWA, working together, propose to provide Warren County residents some of the services normally performed by a county park service. Look for more details in the next edition of the Musconetcong River News.

Here’s the Express Times article reporting on the meeting:

Grants go to river preservation groups  Heritage Conservancy to buy land. Watershed group plans river resource center, headquarters. Thursday, January 10, 2008 By Sara K. Satullo

The Express-Times WHITE TWP. | The Warren County freeholders awarded $800,000 in grant money Wednesday to two preservation groups for Musconetcong River recreation development. The open space tax monies will help the Heritage Conservancy pay for the purchase of 5 acres along the river in Mansfield Township and help the Musconetcong Watershed Association build a river resource center downstream in Franklin Township. The two groups plan to work together to develop river recreation and educational opportunities for Warren County residents.

"The county must use an innovative approach to do more with less money," said Beth Barry, the watershed association's executive director, during a presentation to the board. "Nonprofits make our living by learning to do more with less. All year, all the time."

The Pennsylvania-based Heritage Conservancy plans to use its grant to purchase the Cliffdale Inn property on Route 57 in Mansfield Township, which has 1,000 feet of river frontage. The group hopes to work out an arrangement with a concessionaire to rent kayaks and canoes and provide fishing gear to river users.

The Franklin Township river resource center will function as the association's headquarters and an information center for river visitors. The $400,000 will help the group complete its renovations of an existing building to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building standards.

The freeholder board expressed a desire to get the projects going as soon as possible. "This is certainly a unique opportunity for the county," said Freeholder Deputy Director Richard Gardner. "I hope with great fortitude we push ahead."

Reporter Sara K. Satullo can be reached at 908-475-2174 or by e-mail at ssatullo@express-times.com.

River Resouce Center 2007

MWA will be appearing before the Franklin Township Land Use Board on July 11, 2007 for a public meeting at which our site plan will be reviewed.

Warren Reporter article on MWA' s River Resoruce Center. March 16, 2007

You may not be able to tell as you pass by the building, but we've had a very busy year! Plans and permitting has been moving along. The following items have been complete or are being worked on:

1) Electrical Service Installation - Complete

2) Architectural Plans

Design Development - Complete

Construction Documents - Near Completion

3) Mechanical/Engineering/Plumbing Plans - Complete

4) Highlands Exemption Applicability Determination Letter - Complete

5) Freshwater Wetlands and State Open Waters Delineation - Complete                             

6) Preliminary and Final Site Implementation Plans - Complete

7) Use Variance Planning Report - Complete

8) Preparation of Septic Systems Plans - Complete

9) Local and regional permitting - Ongoing

10) The following have been applied for -

Wetlands Letter of Interpretation

Freshwater Wetlands Permit

Minor Stream Encroachment Permit

Fall 2005 Update By Kim Hood

In planning for the River Resource Center renovation, the project team quickly realized that the constraints of our "ideal location on the riverbank" posed some very challenging problems. High on the list of challenges is the fact that our property is in the Highlands Preservation Area, which imposes certain impervious coverage and buffer restrictions. Next are the Franklin Township zoning ordinances which impose their own requirements for providing impervious parking spaces, and the fact that our site is the first Preservation Area site in Franklin Township to be developed. And lastly is a state requirement that the site comply with a Water Quality Management Plan

One by one the team is addressing each of these challenges. First, MWA approached NJ Fish & Wildlife to find out if we could locate a parking area on their property, which adjoins MWA's property. This would move the parking area far enough from the river to satisfy Highlands Act requirements, while providing a parking area for Fish & Wildlife, as well as MWA use. Next we presented a conceptual plan to the Franklin Township Land Use Board to introduce them to the River Resource Center project. The Land Use Board indicated that they felt it was a very positive use of a long-standing eyesore, would be an asset to the community, and that they see no obvious problems with the MWA obtaining the variances that will be needed to occupy the building.

On October 27th the project team met with Adam Zellner, Executive Director of the Highlands Council, and was given very encouraging feedback for proceeding. In our favor is the fact that we are re-developing within the existing footprint of the building, and we are not expanding the impervious surface by more than a quarter acre. Lastly, the team is still in the process of determining the site's consistency with the Water Quality Management Plan.

The planning phase has been an arduous process, but the team is confident that by working in collaboration with appropriate municipal and government bodies, we will be able to surmount these challenges. We will emerge from the process with valuable experience about green buildings and working in the newly designated Highlands Preservation Area. We believe that MWA will be a resource for other organizations, businesses, local governments and private citizens hoping to meet these same challenges.

Winter 2004/2005

• Over the past eleven years MWA has performed admirably despite working out of cardboard boxes stuffed into hallway closets. Imagine what can be accomplished with a full time office. Reaching that goal has suddenly become a real possibility. MWA has received a challenge grant from the Leavens Foundation that will be applied to the future site of the Association's River Resource Center. Every dollar contributed to the River Resource Center Campaign will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Foundation, up to a $20,000 limit. With a total of $40,000 in hand, MWA will be able to make some major steps toward occupying the building ­ our Association¹s first permanent home!
  
  
• The trustees are investigating the possibility of constructing a LEED certified building. This is a big challenge for an organization as small as the MWA and we should know by early spring if this is something that can realistically be pursued. Becoming LEED certified involves careful planning to build a "green building." The River Resource Center will be super-insulated, designed for passive solar collection, and contain a waterless composting toilet. Down the road, we want to install a turbine in the Grist Mill across the street to generate electricity. The intention is to run the electric meter backwards and have JCP&L pay us for a change!
  
  
• The Trustees have placed the highest possible priority on completing the building and encourage MWA members to help meet the $20,000 challenge. Any contributions through the year 2004 that are not specifically designated for other uses will be applied to meet the Leavens Foundation Challenge Grant. To print a contribution form click here. Completion of the Musconetcong Watershed Association's headquarters cannot happen too soon. Checks can be made payable to MWA PO Box 113 Asbury NJ.